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Electronic Gift Card Plus

Gift cards rank high on many gift lists, make great corporate and customer incentives and can provide your business with a real return on investment. Gift card transactions provide a better sales experience for both you and your customers while increasing your profit margin and creating return customers. Think of gift cards as portable billboards for your business.

Why electronic?

Electronic cards retain 100% of purchased value to your business.

With paper certificates, if the customer does not spend the full value, you have to give change, which probably won’t be spent in your store

With EGC Plus, the sale price is deducted from the card and the remaining balance can be used later in your business

Customers using gift cards often spend more than the original value of the card (up to 40% more)

If they don’t spend the whole amount, remaining balances bring return visits and ensure that the entire value – and possibly more – will be spent at your business

About 9% of customers do not spend the remaining value on the card – meaning more income for you

Cards can also be used as a replacement for cash on some merchandise returns, ensuring that the refund money is spent in your business

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I get gift cards?

Gift cards are a new alternative to paper gift vouchers. They can be openly merchandised like any other product and don’t need to be kept in a locked drawer like paper gift vouchers. This will drive impulse purchase and increase your sales. In addition, there is no reconciliation required (we do all that for you online) and fraud and theft are reduced (they aren’t active until you activate them with an amount on a terminal).

What are your cards made from?

Our cards are made from PVC plastic – just like your bank card.

How long will it take to print my order?

Card production takes 2-3 weeks from approval of your design (a PDF proof of the design will be sent to you by email).

Can I have more than one card design?

Yes, you can order as many types of cards as you wish to on www.elavongiftcard.com. If you order multiple cards, please be sure to clearly state which four lines of text relate to which card design. Currently there are 26 designs of card to choose from.

How do I merchandise them?

Effective merchandising is the key to gift card success – treating them like another product and merchandising them as such will increase impulse purchase and overall sales, particularly in busy gifting periods (Christmas, Easter, Mother's and Father's Day, etc). POS units are available for purchase on www.elavongiftcard.com.

Are gift cards complicated to use?

No, selling and redeeming a gift card is as easy as doing a credit/debit transaction. You will be provided with full instructions on both the terminal and Card Manager Portal (where you can set-up, manage and report on your gift card programme) when you subscribe for gift card.

How do I put value on a gift card?

There are a number of ways to do this. The most straightforward way is to use your existing Elavon terminal in-store. Alternatively, you can load a single card using the Merchant Portal at www.cc-cardmanager.com or, if you’re using them for a promotion, you can load a range of cards with a pre-set amount (e.g. £5 or £10) also using the Merchant Portal.

How long does a transaction take?

We have found a gift card transaction to be as quick, if not quicker, than a standard debit/credit transaction.

If my phone line is down can I still accept gift cards?

No, in order to protect you, all transactions have to happen in real-time, in an online fashion. If your phone line isn’t functioning you will not be able to sell or redeem gift cards. You will, however, be able to activate and redeem cards through Card Manager, our online Merchant Portal.

What happens if the call gets cut off mid-transaction?

If the call gets cut off mid-transaction, the terminal recognises this and when the line comes back, the terminal software will retry the transaction until it does go through.

If I am unsure if the card has gone through, how can I check and verify?

The receipt produced by the terminal will be a clear indication. Other than that you can check the card on Card Manager.

How else can I use my cards?

To realise a maximum return on your investment, don’t just “sell” gift cards to customers; instead, make them a valuable part of your business. If you use your card programme as a replacement for cash, coupons and vouchers, many more uses for those same cards start to emerge, including:

Spending Cards – Customers simply credit an amount to the card and then use that credit over multiple visits. Think of a prepaid card as an easy way for parents to manage student spending . Customers can check their balance and transactions on www.showmybalance.com and you can incentivise them to top up with ‘extra free’ – 20% extra when you load £50.

Savings cards – Offer your customers an easy way to save for big occasions like Christmas or weddings. They can present their card and load funds to it as many times at they like. They benefit from paying for goods and services over a period of time and you benefit from the guaranteed spend and actually having the funds in your bank account.

Rewards Cards – Use your cards to reward customer loyalty. Every time they visit or spend in your store, load some credit onto their card and if you have quieter periods, why not offer double rewards to incentivise footfall during those periods.

Refunds Cards – Don’t let refunds walk out of your store. Put the refunded amount back on to one of your gift cards – it will have to then be spent in your store at a later date.

Promotional Cards – Incentivise footfall during quieter periods by using your cards for promotions. Simply load, say, £5 or £10 onto 100 cards (using the bulk load function in Card Manager) and have your staff hand them to passers-by or distribute at corporate offices, churches, schools, apartment buildings and other sites to target potential customers. If those people use those cards, you benefit from the up-spend. If they don’t, the promotion has cost you very little.

Customer Service: Turn a bad experience into a loyal customer by loading value on a card and asking the customer to come back and give your business another chance. The incentive - combined with your service promise - can lead to a long relationship.

How can I order gift cards?

Simply visit www.elavongiftcard.com and, on the home page click ‘Buy’ or, in the left hand menu, click your business sector to see sector specific gift card designs.

Do you have designs that will suit my business?

In total there are 26 designs of card on the site, everything from a plain white card (onto which you can put your own logo and text), to sector themed cards (restaurants, hotels and bookshops, to name but three), to general gift cards for any type of business.

What can I put on my card?

We recommend that less is definitely more! On one of our standard card designs, you can add a maximum of 4 lines of text with a maximum of 20 characters per line (including letters, numbers, punctuation and spacing). On a plain white card you can add your logo and up to 4 lines of text. When going through the checkout process you will be prompted to enter your text and if you wish, to upload your logo.

How do I pay for my order?

Your order will be included in your next monthly merchant billing statement and deducted from your settlement amount as per the usual monthly billing process.

Registered in Ireland with Companies Registration Office. The liability of the member is limited.
United Kingdom branch registered in England and Wales under the number BR009373.

Elavon Financial Services DAC, trading as Elavon Merchant Services, is authorised by Central Bank of Ireland and the Prudential Regulation Authority and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. Details about the extent of our authorisation and regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority, and regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority are available from us on request.

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